Fish and game cleaning device



19, R. D. WERTZ ET AL 2,607,070

FISH AND GAME CLEANING DEVICE Filed Oct. 6, 1950 Patented Aug. 19, 1952 M r g gasomovo FISH CLEAN-ING -DEVICE v DrWertz and George w liicCourtia-i v r 7 Detroit, l

applicaticn-flctolierfi, 1950, Serial rt-11,182,788:

by j j 1 n his nvent on relates to. clamp devices-.- and more particularly to an: improved clamp device suitable for holdingfish orsmallgame during the process of cleaning.

A main object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved clamp device suitable for holding fish or small game during the process of cleaning thereof, said device being very simple in construction, being easy to operate, and providing a means for securely gripping the fish or small game, leaving both hands of the operator freefor. scaling the fish, skinning gameheld-in thedeviceuonforotheroperations. l

Aiurther object oftheinventio'n is to. provide an improved. clamp. device for. -holding: fish or small game, said device being inexpensive to manufacture, being sturdy in construction, being easy to wash, being compact in size, and providing a great saving in time and labor in the process of scaling or cleaning a fish or skinning, cleaning or otherwise preparing small game animals and game birds.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description and claim, and from the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an improved clamp device constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary, top plan view of the clamping jaw portion of the device, parts of the upper jaw of the device being broken away to show details of internal construction;

Figure 3 is a longitudinal, cross-sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a transverse, cross-sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 3.

Referring to the drawings, the device is generally designated at I I and comprises a. base board 12 which may be of any suitable shape, for example, rectangular in shape, as shown in Figure 1, the board having mounted on the rear marginal portion thereof a bracket member [3. The bracket member l3 comprises a plate portion M which is firmly secured to the base board 12, said plate portion being formed with lugs l5, I which receive fastening screws l6, It. The outer end portion of the bracket I3 is generally channelshaped in cross-section, the sides of the bracket being provided with the upstanding flanges I1, I1 and the end flange l8. The outer portion of the bracket member 13 is arcuately curved, as shown in Figures 1 and 3, to define a downwardly concave portion l9 under which the operator may conveniently hook his finger when oper- '11 onus; (on. 17 s! ating'the clamp. portion oi-thedevice; The rear portion ,of 1 the bracketi sissecured tothe mar.- gin of thebase board I2 by additional screws-20, 210. Thesideedges 0f the. platemember it are form wi h p ral e upstandi g, an i d lu -.2 3; '2 L D i nat d Z i E R W F Y teal-1 h nne rsha d jaw-m hav n pending side lugs 2-3, 2-3 at its intermediatepor tion which externally overlapthe'upstanding lugs 21, 2! Designated-at u is a transverse hingerpin whichv extends; through therespective lug. ele: mentsZ-I, 2| and23, 23, as shown inFigure. 4, said pin 24 beingv headed I at. itsrouter ends to prevent endwise displacement; thereof. The inner end oi thejaw member 22- is-substantially enlarged in width, as shown at 25, and is formed at its margin with the transverse, depending, serrated flange 26. The outer end of the jaw member 22 is depressed at 21 to define a finger tab 28 disposed opposite the arcuately curved end portion of the bracket member I3. Designated at 29 is a coil spring which surrounds the pivot pin 24. The upper end of the coil spring, shown at 30, bears against the top wall of the outer portion of the jaw member 22, said top wall being arcuately curved, as shown in Figure 4, and the spring end 30 engaging in the uppermost portion of said top wall. The lower end of the spring, shown at 3|, is received in a longitudinal channel section 32 pressed in the bracket member l3. In view of the engagement of the ends 30 and 3! of the spring 29 with the respective outer portions of the jaw 22 and the bracket [3, the jaw 22 is biased counterclockwise, as viewed in Figure 3, whereby the serrated, transverse flange 2B is biased into engagement with the top surface of the board l2.

As shown in Figure 3, the tab 28 is spaced from the curved outer end of the bracket 13 under normal conditions, and is arranged so that the tab 2-8 and the outer end of the bracket [3 may be readily grasped by the operators hand so that by exerting squeezing pressure on the elements thus grasped, the jaw member 22 may be rotated against the biasing action of the spring 29 and the serrated flange 26 may be thereby raised out of contact with the board I2. When this is done, a portion of the animal or fish to be cleaned may be inserted beneath the serrated flange 26, whereby the animal or fish to be processed will be gripped by the jaw 22 when the operator releases the finger tab 28 and the outer end portion of the bracket l3. For example, a fish may be scaled by engaging the tail of a fish beneath the serrated flange 26 in the manner above described, whereby fish and game cleaning device has been disclosed in the foregoing description, it will be understood that various modifications within the spirit of the invention may occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore, it is intended that no limitations be placed on the invention except as defined by the scope of the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A fish and game cleaning device comprising a baseboard, an upwardly facing, channel-shaped bracket member secured to a marginal portion of said baseboard, one end portion of said bracket member projecting outwardly and upwardly from the edge of the board and being arcuately curved longitudinally to define a downwardly concave finger tab, a pair of spaced upstanding parallel lugs carried by the other end portion of said bracket member, a downwardly facing, channelshaped jaw member formed with a pair of depending side lugs at its intermediate portion, said side lugs overlapping the spaced upstanding lugs. a transverse pivot pin extending through said lugs and pivotally connecting said jaw member to 4 said bracket member, the inner end of said jaw member being elongated transversely with respect to the remainder of the jaw member, a depending serrated transverse flange on the inner end of said jaw member, depending flanges on the side and rear margins of said jaw member merging with each other and with said depending serrated transverse flange, the depending flanges on the rear margins of said jaw 'membe rimerging with the depending side fiangesof the main'body portion of said jaw member, a coil spring encircling said pivot pin, the terminals of the spring engaging the outer portions of the bracket member and jaw member respectively, and biasing said serrated flange into engagement with the baseboard. and a downwardly facing, hollow finger tab on the outer end of saidjaw member opposing said first named finger tab and being normally spaced from said first named finger tab and being inclined upwardly and outwardly therefrom, said finger tabs being narrower in width than the inner end of said jaw member but'being wider than the inter-' mediate portion of said jaw member. l

RALPH D. WERTZ. GEORGE W. McCOURTIE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Dat Name 2,323,101 Schirmer June 29, 1943 2,435,075 Gould Jan. 27, 1943 2,500,032 Helberg. Mar; 7, 1950 

